ExtremeRavens Posted 20 hours ago Posted 20 hours ago The Ravens-Steelers rivalry got off to a conspicuous start. Sept. 8, 1996 at 1 p.m. Week 2. Pittsburgh. 75 degrees and partly sunny. Marv Albert and Sam Wyche in the booth for NBC. A Kobe Bryant-Adidas commercial before kickoff. Ten-year veteran Vinny Testaverde under center for nascent Baltimore, which was playing just the second game of its existence after the Colts had jilted the Charm City for Indianapolis a dozen years earlier. As the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback dropped back to pass on the second-generation but still plasticky AstroTurf of Three Rivers Stadium, feigning a handoff to running back Leroy Hoard on a second-and-8 from his own 33-yard line, the strong-armed Brooklyn native fired the ball 11 yards to the right sideline and receiver Michael Jackson on a curl route. Testaverde was looking that way the moment he started to drop back, Rod Woodson saw it and the Steelers safety broke toward the intended target long before the throw got there, snatched the pass out of the air and raced 43 yards untouched the other direction for a touchdown. Pittsburgh was victorious, 31-17, and went on to win 12 of the first 16 games between the two division foes in a rivalry that nearly wasn’t. In the years since, of course, it has become one of the NFL’s marquee matchups. The Ravens and Steelers have played 64 times in all, with Pittsburgh holding a 37-27 edge. Many of the contests have been as memorable as they were meaningful, including a 2016 Christmas Day thriller punctuated by Antonio Brown’s “immaculate extension” game-winning touchdown grab in the final seconds to seal the AFC North title. They have also met five times in the playoffs, including indelibly in the 2009 AFC championship game at Pittsburgh, where the Steelers emerged from the gritty, physical, defensive struggle the victors, 23-14. The Steelers also came out on top in divisional round games in Pittsburgh in 2002 and 2011, while the Ravens won wild-card matchups in 2015 at then-named Heinz Field and last season in Baltimore. But for all the drama and history between the two bitter adversaries, they have never met in the final week of the regular season in a win-or-go-home contest for the division crown until now. “I didn’t realize that,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who along with counterpart Mike Tomlin are the NFL’s two longest-tenured active coaches. “That’s something.” It’s also not the only (potential) first. Should the Ravens win Sunday night in Pittsburgh, it will not only be a remarkable turnaround from a 1-5 start and the precipice of disaster that sends them to the playoffs, it will clinch their third straight AFC North title. No other team has ever won the division three consecutive years, something Harbaugh was surprised by, though only momentarily. “It was a surprise, but then not a surprise when I thought about it for about five seconds, because it’s so darn competitive,” he said. “I’m assuming it’s the only division that’s the case. I’ll bet it is, if we were allowed to bet.” If he was, he would have cashed in. “It’s something to think about,” Harbaugh continued. “It’s a big deal, but it’s a game. It’s like any big game; there’s a lot riding on it, and there’s a lot to earn, but you have to go play a winning football game. You have to go play the type of game that can beat a really good football team in their stadium when the stakes are really high, and I know they feel the same way, but it’s our responsibility to take care of us, take care of our business, play our game the way we play it and to execute it the way we need to execute to get the job done. “Keep it simple. Go play hard. Go play well. Go play good football. Our goal will be to play our best game of the season, and that’s what we’ll be really focused on. That’s what we have to get ready for.” If history is any indication, that includes being prepared for a close game. Of their past 14 meetings dating to the beginning of 2019 and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s first full year as the starter, Baltimore has averaged 19.5 points and Pittsburgh 18.3 in the showdowns. All but three have been decided by seven points or less. That included earlier this month, when Aaron Rodgers threw for 284 yards and a touchdown, receiver D.K. Metcalf had seven catches for 148 yards and Pittsburgh was held to a paltry 34 rushing yards but jumped out to a 17-3 second quarter lead and held on for a 27-22 victory at M&T Bank Stadium. Like many of their run-ins of yore, it also had plenty of theatrics if not controversy. Trailing by five with just over three minutes remaining, Jackson drove Baltimore to Pittsburgh’s 13-yard line before hitting Isaiah Likely over the middle for what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown. But replay overturned the call, with the tight end ruled as not having completed the catch as the ball was ripped from his grasp after he’d taken two steps with control. Then Jackson, who was also intercepted earlier in the game on a pass that fluttered well short of running back Rasheen Ali and eventually led to a Steelers touchdown, was sacked at Pittsburgh’s 38 on the game’s final play. Afterward, the quarterback said his frustration was “through the roof” over what was a second straight division loss after a Thanksgiving night debacle in which Baltimore had five turnovers at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. “We have to finish and find a way to put some points on the board,” Jackson said. “At this point of the season, we have to just keep fighting.” Now comes one, last chance to do so to try to prevent the season from slipping away entirely, along with a new chapter in an old rivalry, one that the 62-year old Harbaugh, a proud historian of the game, is aware of but not thinking about. “I probably would’ve thought it might’ve been another time it would’ve come up,” he said of the two teams’ first meeting in the final week of the season with this much at stake. “But that’s about as much head space as I can give it. So, other than that, it’s a division championship game for sure, but it’s a game. It’s in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. We kind of understand that part of it, too.” That it’s at night, on national television to close out the regular season? A cherry on top. “I think it’s really cool,” Harbaugh said. “It’s what you want. “The game could have been at 4 o’clock. It could have been 1 o’clock. It could have been Saturday [or] Saturday night. That would have been fine. I wouldn’t have really cared, so the fact that it’s Sunday night just means we have to wait longer. That’s kind of my mindset. We have to wait that much longer to go play, so we have to set our clock accordingly and be ready at 8:20 on Sunday night. But … I think when you take a step back, especially as a Ravens fan or in the organization, you have to take a step back, and you have to nod your head a little bit and go, ‘Yes, that’s probably the way it should be.’” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. Even Ravens coach John Harbaugh was willing to admit Monday that playing the Steelers in prime time with a playoff spot on the line is "cool." (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) View the full article Quote
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